


Twenty Years

by VioletFlash



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen Loves Iris West, Barry Allen Mourns His Parents, Barry Allen Needs a Hug, Barry Allen/Iris West Fluff, Barry Runs with Iris, Dead Henry Allen, Dead Nora Allen, Established Barry Allen/Iris West, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Barry Allen, Iris Helps Barry Mourn, Iris West Comforts Barry Allen, Iris West Cooks, Iris West Loves Barry Allen, Iris West Time-Travels with Barry, Married Barry Allen/Iris West, Mentioned Dawn Allen and Don Allen | Tornado Twins, Protective Iris West, time-travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletFlash/pseuds/VioletFlash
Summary: March 18, 2020, marked the twenty-year anniversary of Nora Allen's death. Everyone is prepared to comfort Barry, especially Iris. While on a trip to the park with Iris, he gets an idea. He takes her to see his parents.AU- NO MIRROR!IRIS
Relationships: Barry Allen & Iris West, Barry Allen/Iris West, Cecile Horton/Joe West, Henry Allen/Nora Allen, Ralph Dibny & Killer Frost
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	Twenty Years

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this fic after watching Barry and Nora's interaction in 5x08 when they see his parents. I really wanted to see that scene but with Iris instead!

It was March 18, 2020, twenty years after Reverse-Flash murdered Barry Allen’s mother, Nora. Ralph and Caitlin handled the metas for a day, while Barry took the day off as a CSI and as Scarlet Speedster. It was a slow day in Central City, anyway, with there only being a robber and no metas. The weather reflected the mood of the city, gray and calm. It was midday and Cisco sat bored in the Cortex at S.T.A.R. Labs. He slouched into his spinny-chair and fiddled with one of his inventions at one of the back desks. Frost sat at the front desk while freezing and unfreezing a glass of water. Ralph sat beside her, stretching his hands into different objects and trying to make Frost guess them.

“I don’t know, Ralph.” She glared at him. He grinned goofily back.

“Come on, snowflake! Guess!” His hand morphed into the Empire State Building. He looked back at her, expectantly. She propped her legs on the desk.

“It looks like something I could easily freeze off.” The heroine smirked at him and he gulped.

He muttered, “Never mind.”

Over at Central City Police Department, Joe sat in his office, on a call with Cecile, who was with Jenna. He was shuffling through paperwork, clearly overwhelmed. Outside his office, a few cops went in and out of the bullpen, but for the most part, the detectives were lounging in their seats, barely any calls coming in. On the other end of Joe’s call, Jenna babbled.

“Is that right, baby girl?” He smiled, holding the phone in between his ear and shoulder. Jenna giggled, and Cecile took the phone back.

“I swear, Joe, she’s saying bigger words.”

“No, no, I refuse to let this baby grow up. My others grew too fast.” He smiled as his significant other laughed.

“I don’t know Joe, one of these days she’s going to be as big as Iris!”

He shook his head and grinned more. Cecile contemplated for a moment.

“Is **he** doing okay?”

Joe sighed. He put down his paperwork and rubbed both his eyes.

“I texted Iris, and she said he was alright. It’s always hard for him especially since he lost Henry. Knowing him though, he’ll be back on his feet tomorrow.”

“I’m glad he has Iris with him.”

“Me too. She’s helped him out every year, even when they were kids.” Joe smiled softly and remembered when Iris wanted to bake cookies for Barry one year after it happened. The duo ended up burning them, but Barry perked up for the rest of the day. He acted like they were the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. Every year, Iris stepped it up and made it more special. When they were eighteen she surprised him with a trip to Happy Harbor, Rhode Island using her own money that she earned by working after school. She said that she would’ve paid a billion dollars to see that look when Barry realized when they were at. He smiled for days and thanked Iris every time he saw her, for weeks. She always said,

“It was no problem, Barry. I’m just glad to see you smiling again.”

At the West-Allen loft, Iris picked up empty dishes from the dining room table. Now, it was quietly pattering rain outside, but Iris had already drawn the curtains. Barry sat in an oversized hoodie at the table, drinking the last of his juice. Iris softly grabbed the cup from him and placed it in the dishwasher. She sat back down beside Barry. The journalist had attempted a BLT with fries for lunch. Somehow she burnt everything, including the lettuce and tomato. Barry was used to it, however, and appreciated that she had taken so much time to prepare the meal.

“I really can’t thank you enough, Iris. It was… delicious.” He smiled sweetly at her and she gazed back at him.

“It was no problem, babe. I’m just glad to see you smiling again.”

He took her hand and quickly kissed it. They sat for a few moments, just sitting together. Iris stood up abruptly.

“Okay! Get up and get dressed.” She exclaimed, eagerly. Barry peered at her, confused. “We’re going to Pelheller Park!” She clapped.

Barry looked through the space in between the curtains. It was still pattering outside.

“But… it’s raining.” He pouted. She smacked his shoulder.

“C’mon, Barr, it was your favorite when we were kids! Rain has never stopped us before, I’ll just bring our umbrella.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. He struggled against her, and she giggled.

“Alright, alright!” He laughed and stood up. She stood on her tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek. He sped up into their bedroom, got dressed, and sped down in a matter of a second. “Ready, Mrs. West-Allen?”

She beamed as he held out his arm. She hooked her arm in his.

“Always, Mr. Allen.”

When the couple got to the park, it was only sprinkling. The air was frigid, so Iris snuggled close to Barry. He held the green and blue striped umbrella over the both of them, but mostly over her. Their hands were intertwined tightly and they strolled peacefully. The park was smaller than most but still contained a small lake, playground, and basketball court. Oak trees surrounded the perimeter of the entire park. The pair stopped at a bench facing the lake. She sat first, and he sat to the right of her. She instantly put her head on his shoulder, and he put his head on hers.

“I’ve missed this. Just us, together.” The speedster remarked.

“Me too. It’s so nice to see you calm for a change.”

“It’s hard not to miss my mom and dad. But being here with you makes everything better.”

She lifted her head up softly, once he realized what she was doing he did the same. She gazed into his hazel eyes. He did the same into her chocolate brown ones.

“Are you sure you’re doing alright, Barr? It’s been twenty years…And it affected you so much for so long.”

“Yeah. I mean, after my dad died and I created Flashpoint, I had a harder time. And then losing Nora…” He broke their eye-contact and looked away, at the basketball court. Iris looked down.

He asked, “Do you remember when Joe tried to teach me to free-throw?”

“Dad had you here every day for weeks.” She giggled. Iris glanced back up at him. He then peered at the playground and pointed at the fireman’s pole.

“I remember when I was eight, my dad convinced me to go down that pole. I was terrified because, you know, in my mind it was like a hundred feet tall. He said, ‘Barry, you gotta be brave.’ And I don’t know, but just looking at him and him looking back at me with this crazy determination, just gave me the strength to slide down. He then told me that I did great, and I looked like a superhero. He then gave me a huge bear hug. I just felt so safe.” He looked back at Iris. “I know it sounds kinda dumb-”

“No. It doesn’t sound dumb at all.” She smiled reassuringly. Barry stared at the swings.

“Mom would push me on those swings every time we came here. We came like every week, Iris, it was all the time. And my favorite was the swings. I could swing for hours…. And Mom would push me for however long I wanted. She never complained once. I’ve spent over half my life without her…. But I still miss her so much. Both of them.”

“I know, babe.” His wife grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

“They’ve missed so much. They will still miss so much. Our kids, our kids’ kids. They would have loved Nora. They would have been so glad that we finally got married.” A tear fell down his cheek, so Iris wiped it away and caressed his face.

“Your parents are still here, Barry. They left the best gift ever. They left you. They are still here in you. Just like Francine is still in me. You are a living reminder that they are still here, and they will be here in you. Henry and Nora Allen will forever be with us if we keep them here.” She pointed to his heart.

“I love you.”

She kissed him softly. “I love you.”

Night fell on Central City. The rain had completely stopped, but the smell of rain remained. Caitlin and Ralph were still on meta-duty, while Joe had clocked out and sat at the West house, cuddling with Jenna and Cecile. Iris and Barry lay in bed, exhausted after their trip to the park. Moonlight barely seeped through the curtains. The two were covered up but unable to sleep. Barry stared straight up. She was snuggled up with him, eyes closed. Her arm was sprawled across his torso, and he had his arm around her. Thoughts raced in his mind faster than he could.

Iris’ eyes fluttered open. “What’s that brain of yours thinking about?”

“I need to go somewhere.” He whispered. Her eyebrows raised.

“Um okay, where?”

He brought his arm from around her and got up off the bed. He sped and got both their jackets. He smirked at her.

“You’ll see.”

The spouses stood at the entrance to the pipeline at S.T.A.R. Labs. The rest of the team hadn’t heard them come in. Barry opened the door to the pipeline, getting ready to run.

“Okay at least give me a hint,” Iris demanded, and Barry laughed.

“We’re going back in time. To the past.” He confessed, and her eyes popped out. He laughed again.

“You can do that? Like with me?”

“I can do anything with you, Iris.” They beamed at each other.

“Well, being the first time-traveling non-meta does sound schway.”

He picked her up, bridal-style. She clutched on to him, and he grinned.

He lifted one of his feet, then lifted the next, then the next, until he was speeding through the pipeline. Iris screamed with joy as a portal to the Speed Force opened. Barry jumped through.

Iris could’ve sworn she saw every moment in time while Barry was running. She saw every memory they had together. She saw every moment she had with Joe and Wally. She saw every time she had been saved by the Flash. She then saw the future.

“Whoa.” She gasped just as she saw herself and Barry cuddled in a hospital bed, holding a baby. No. **Two** babies. She gasped heavily at that sight.

Barry concentrated at the exact moment in time that he wanted to go. He ran until he finally saw the other end of the portal. The Flash ran through and slowed down in the middle of a street. He put Iris back down as she examined her surroundings. She saw the Allen house, with Henry and Nora on the porch drinking wine. It was nighttime. Then she realized.

“This is the night, isn’t it? Twenty years ago.” She asked. Barry stared at his parents.

“Yeah, it is.” He looked back at her. “I took Nora here after we put Cicada’s dagger in the pillar at Central City Hospital. After our talk today I wanted to come back.”

“Can they see us?”

“Unless they look directly at us, no they can’t.”

She focused her gaze on them. Tears formed in her eyes.

“It’s nice to see them so happy.” She mentioned, her voice slightly breaking. He took her hand and nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Do you ever think about stopping what’s about to happen? Like Flashpoint but… Permanently.”

He tilted her face to face him and shook his head. He placed both hands on her cheeks and caressed them with his thumbs.

“No, no. Iris, you weren’t there for Flashpoint. While I think about how happy I would be if my mom were still alive every day, it wasn’t worth losing you or Joe or the team. You were there, but we didn’t know each other like we do in this timeline. I never came to live with you and Joe. I wouldn’t trade that for the world. Having my mother and my dad…. It wasn’t worth losing all of our memories together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. They wouldn’t want that, either.”

They embraced for a few minutes. The Allens finished up their wine. Nora kissed Henry goodnight, and they both started heading inside. Barry took one final look at them before he picked Iris back up and sped through the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and leave your thoughts down below!


End file.
